


Forever and Always

by QueenSarge



Category: Banana Bus Squad
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2019-04-06 09:33:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14054013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenSarge/pseuds/QueenSarge
Summary: Forever and Always by Parachute is the song to listen to while reading. Or don't, I'm a writer not your dad





	Forever and Always

Craig wasn’t sure how long he’d been sitting there with his cold dinner staring at the rain just outside their window, lost in thoughts. A swift glance at the clock revealed it to be just past 8, and the more the hours ticked by the thicker his cloud of worry got. Tyler was supposed to be home three hours ago, surely he would’ve called if something had come up.

 

His eyes trail down to his cellphone, sitting on the table with Tyler’s message still open– ‘ _Be home soon! :)_  ‘ which had sent apparently three hours ago. Swamped with worry, he snatches the phone off the table and begins to pace the house as the line rings. “Hello?” the voice answers, confused at what Craig could possibly want at this hour.

 

Nervous eyes drift to the driveway, still empty and the longer he stares at it the more he can see the giant gap that Tyler’s truck normally filled. “Craig?” the voice pushes, starting to grow worried. “Have you seen Tyler?” he blurts out, heart racing in his chest. There’s a pause,”No. Why, is something wrong?” the more the conversation wears on, the more worried he starts to sound. “No, it’s fine. Thanks, Evan,” he shrugs off the worry and hangs up the phone, a hand raking through his hair in a poor attempt to calm frayed nerves.

 

He looks back to the window, finding his eyes drawn to it in hopes that he’d see those lights coming down the road and that truck would pull in. But instead, the phone’s harsh ringing fills the room and Craig is all too quick to answer. “Hello?” he asks, voice cracking and nervous and he sounded just as terrified as he actually was. “Hello, is this Craig Huttner?” the voice sounds much too professional and cold for his liking.

  
Craig nods for some reason, only after realizing they couldn’t see him and quickly rushing out a “Yes, is this about Tyler?” with a voice that shook as much as he did. The woman on the other end just sighs,”You should hurry over to the Mercy hospital,” and since there was only the one, he knew exactly where to go.

 

Hanging up the phone, he rushed out with barely a second thought and in the process nearly forgetting his jacket and car keys before heading to the hospital going the tiniest bit over the limit but he couldn’t be bothered right now. His mind kept drifting back to last Christmas, surrounded by all their friends and wide grins. Tyler’s dog nearly taking Evan out when he’d arrived with Delirious and flooring Lui before he made it through the door in sheer excitement.

 

But Tyler had always loved big dogs, and Craig had always loved watching him play with the dogs. It warmed his heart, seeing the affection Tyler had for his pets. The presents had overall been good, mostly everyone having asked Evan for his opinion as he seemed to have a knack for picking gifts for people. 

  
  
However, there was one gift that had been picked out alone, so small it was nearly forgotten under their huge pile of bigger presents. Tyler purposefully saved it for last, trying and failing at hiding the huge grin of anticipation as he approached a rather confused Craig and knelt in front of him, offering the box and lighting up at the wide grin that broke across his face. Tears filled Craig’s eyes as he threw his arms around Tyler, the taller man’s chest nearly muffling his repeated yells of “yes oh my fucking God a million times yes” and Tyler’s huge smile as he hugged him back made it all worthwhile.

 

They still had that picture hanging in the hallway, Lui going so far as to pose with Nogla while Evan took it. But it was the moments just after Evan lowered the camera that made Craig’s heart sing. He could still perfectly hear Tyler’s voice in his mind,”I want you forever, forever and always. Through the good and the bad and the ugly. We’ll grow old together,” he broke into a wide grin, clearly enjoying the lovestruck look in Craig’s eyes.

 

* * *

 

The bright white entrance to the hospital cut through Craig’s train of thought and the brief happy memories are immediately placed with widespread panic coursing through Craig’s bloodstream as he approached the front desk and told them who he was, and that he’d come for Tyler. The nurse nods, practically jumping out of her chair to guide him through a seemingly endless maze of the exact same hallway and Craig was positive he’d be lost if not for this tiny guide.

 

She stops at a door that seems the exact same as every other door, a doctor walking over to her side and yet again asking if he knew Tyler. Of course he knew Tyler, they were engaged! He nervously twists the ring on his finger as the doctor rattles on,”He was in a car crash. Now, with a car as big as his he should’ve been fine. But he was hit from the driver’s side. He…we did what we could, but I’ll be frank with you. He hasn’t got much time left,” and at that exact word Craig zoned out, falling into a bottomless pit of despair and  _Oh my God no not Tyler this can’t happen we were supposed to get married and have water gun fights and I was gonna watch him burn everything in the kitchen we were supposed to be happy_.

 

Craig was swamped with near violent nervous thoughts that ate him alive, but the nurse’s hand on the door handle brought him back and he pressed his lips into the thinnest smile he could manage, knowing Tyler would read him like a book anyways.

 

As soon as he meets Tyler’s eyes, seeing those perfect blue eyes that sucked your soul in if you looked for too long, he knew he was already broken. In the blink of an eye he was perched in the seat closest to Tyler’s bed, the larger man’s hand clasped too tightly in his hand but Tyler wasn’t about to complain about Craig.

 

Tyler knew that desperate look in his eyes, so he started to make up something to make him feel better. “Hey, hey. Everything will be okay. Just think about the dogs,” at this, his own face scrunches into the happiest smile he can manage, which is nothing compared to a normal grin. “Think about the house we have, the yard and those stupid neighbors and letting me cook fuckin’ poison, playing games with the guys like we always do,” and Craig smiles, brief chuckle escaping his lips that fades much too fast.

 

Craig’s smile wasn’t the only thing fading, though, and he could very well see in Tyler’s eyes that he couldn’t do this and his heart twisted painfully at the mere thought. But an idea struck his mind, jumping up and calling in a nurse at random as she passed by. A few brief words and a hopeful smile brings in what they all called the chaplain, who was the closest thing to a priest they could get.   
  


The couple in the next room was more than willing to offer up their wedding rings, the nurses lingering about the room as the chaplain said a couple verses. Tyler sat up as much as he could manage and Craig stared right into his eyes as they said their vows. “Tyler, I want forever with you. The good and the bad and the ugly. We’ll grow old together and always remember, whether happy or sad or whatever, that we still love each other, always,” he broke into a huge grin that faded at the silence following, hearing how terrifyingly slow Tyler’s heart rate had gotten.  

 

Tyler’s voice is almost  _too_  low as he speaks up and even Craig strains to hear him when he says,”I love you forever and always. Please just remember, even if I’m not there, that I’ll always love you,” and the mind numbing singular tone after that destroyed everything Craig knew.

 

* * *

 

As the days passed, Craig slowly began to wither away and it was painfully obvious to everyone around him. “Craig, you have to eat  _something_ ,” Evan was pleading by now, it ate him up to see Craig this thin. Evan was sure he could snap Craig in half if he so desired, but the man just shook his head. That dead look in his eyes that never left, his eyes were so red from crying that Evan was convinced he didn’t have any fluids left in him. But still every night he’d hear that soft sobbing, the paper thin walls revealing to him much more than Craig himself did.

 

The others called occasionally, growing more worried as the days passed and the updates on Craig never got any better. “How’s he doing?” Evan didn’t want to tell Brock, but he knew the truth was probably best. “Every day I can see him like, dying right in front of me. Tyler was the light of his life, it’s like he’s just shut down without him,” Evan heaves a sigh, and Brock is silent.  

 

He could hear Tyler’s voice playing in the other room, and it crushed Evan knowing that all Craig did was sit there and watch those videos. It was the only thing that would spark anything from him. His eyes were dead, he moved from the couch to his bed if at all and Evan was sure he went days at a time on barely anything. The soft padding of Tyler’s dog interrupts Evan’s thoughts, and he looks over to find Kino sitting on the couch beside Craig, like he’d always done to Tyler as Tyler had let Kino on the couch.

 

The almost minuscule look of relief on Craig’s face as he lets one hand rest on Kino’s back seems to give Evan an idea, or at least some form of hope. Sure, he might be dead inside or at the very least emotionally wrecked from Tyler, but Kino might be able to offer some form of therapy. 


End file.
